Promises
by Sakuyan
Summary: A promise between a beorc youth and a laguz royal is unconsciously kept, ten years after it was made. Tibarn/Ike.


A/N: I had a sudden, violent inspiration to write this, so here it is. I haven't posted anything on this account for a long time, and this is still one of my top favorite pairings, so I hope that everyone enjoys this!

Dedications: I dedicate this to Chi-chan (Mysterious Melody), and Achi (Shizuhana). I hope you two enjoy this.

Warnings: Shounen-ai and AU-ish. Not your cup of tea? Turn back, please.

Pairing: Tibarn/Ike.

Enough ranting. Onto the fic!

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><p>Promises<p>

When he was young, Ike loved the laguz. He loved how they turned into "cute animals", but when he was young, the laguz hated the beorc with a bitter passion. They would taunt him when they caught him staring at them, and occasionally one would growl at him to scare him away. This didn't turn off the young boy from the laguz, but it made him wary of them.

The only laguz that were nice to him when he was young were Caineghis, the leader of Gallia, Ranulf, a cat laguz, and later on, the Hawk King of Phoenicis himself. The Crimean general had forgotten those times for many a year, but they were coming back to him now as if a tidal wave had crashed into his mind.

It had begun when he first saw the Hawk King after ten years. Of course, Ike had changed, so the laguz royal had not recognized him, but the blunet had sworn that he had seen him somewhere before. This had grown stronger the more he had spoke to the King and seen him fight, but the memories of him as a child with the King of Phoenicis had only started to fully come back when the final battle was approaching against the Mad King, Ashnard.

Ike was alone in his tent, trying to sleep away the events from the previous battle. He had won against the Black Knight and avenged his father, but he still felt disturbed. Perhaps because he found the battle too easy? Regardless, he tried to sleep away the dark feeling of dread, only to have memories from a long forgotten childhood creep from the dark corners of his mind to the central light.

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><p><em>An eight old Ike ran through Gallia's streets, a happy smile on his face. He was alone, which was dangerous for any beorc, but the child was oblivious to this. A bird flew past him, and with a childlike grin, he chased after the blue bird. However, he was not aware of the tiger laguz in front of him, and he banged straight into him.<em>

_The laguz turned his head, a snarl passing through its lips. "Get out of here, ya dumb brat, before I eat you for lunch." The laguz began to shift, and with a terrified yell, the child ran into Gallia's forest with the now shifted tiger laguz running behind him. "C'mon kid! Let me gnaw on you like a chew toy!"_

_Ike continued to run through Gallia's forest until he found himself lost. Tears built into his eyes as the tiger approached him, licking his lips and roaring in victory. It leaped towards him, and the child curled himself into a ball and screamed one last time..._

_But no pain came. Instead, he heard an angry call of a animal, and a loud crash followed afterwards. Growls and cries of some kind of bird tore through the air, and Ike curled himself deeper into a ball, crying tears of terror. In moments, the growling stopped, and the young boy felt strong arms wrap around him and whispers of "Shh, little one, you're safe now." _

_He cried for what felt like years before he looked up at his savior. He was a laguz, Ike knew instantly by the large wings behind him, and he immediately felt safe. Such a large laguz would be able to protect him from the bad ones. "T-Thank you for getting rid of the s-scary laguz..."_

_Shock passed on his savior's face before he smiled warmly, picking Ike up into his arms. "No laguz should pick on a small hum... beorc child who can't defend himself." _

_Ike titled his head at his savior. "You can call us humans. Unkie Caineghis told me that we did something bad to the...herons?" his small face contorted in confusion, but he continued. "That's why laguz hate us, right?"_

_His savior's gold eyes widened to the size of saucers as he stared at him. Ike felt uncomfortable for a moment before his savior said, "Yes, that's right... but they should not take out their anger on a small child."_

"_I'll help you defeat the bad people!" Ike said happily, causing his savior to stare at him in shock. "We can't be mean to each other, so once the bad people are gone, we can all be friends!"_

"_...Yes. If there are beorc like you in this world, perhaps they are not all bad." His savior said as he took to the air. Ike shrieked and clung to him, causing his savior to chuckle. "Young one, I believe I have not given you my name. I am Tibarn, the King of Phoenicis. May I ask your name?"_

"_Ti...Tibby!" Ike yelled happily, causing Tibarn to chuckle. "My name is Ike!"_

"_Ike... I will remember that name." Tibarn murmured to himself as he flew to Gallia. For the entire ride, Ike clung to the King of Phoenicis while smiling happily._

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><p>Ike awoke with a start, his dark blue eyes widening. He finally realized why Tibarn had seemed so familiar. It was because ten years ago, he had saved him from a laguz that wanted to kill him simply because he had bumped into him. More memories came into his mind; how his mother worried over him after the King of Phoenicis explained what happened, how Caineghis reassured her how he would make sure that would not happen again, and how his father thanked Tibarn for saving him.<p>

The lord chuckled when he remembered that Tibarn had said an awkward "Yeah, sure..." before patting him on the head. He smiled when he remembered what Caineghis had told him at Castle Gallia while his father was still alive, that he had changed the mind of a beorc hating laguz royal with his innocence.

Back then, Ike had no idea who he was talking about. As far as he knew, the only laguz royal he knew was Caineghis, and the general was positive that the Lion King didn't hate beorc, even before he was alive. Yet now, he knew that the King of Gallia was speaking of Tibarn, because Janaff had told him that he had changed after meeting a beorc child. Ike had to wonder why the Hawk King didn't tell his two trusted friends who the child was. _Maybe he did, but they forgot...?_

The general wanted to speak with Tibarn as soon as he could, so he stepped out of his tent into the night. A gentle breeze was blowing, causing the smell of grass to evade Ike's nose. He breathed in the smell of nature, and smacked his arm when a mosquito tried to suck his blood. Deciding that he should find the Hawk King before he got chewed alive, he walked towards the tents before he found the one he was looking for.

Thankfully, the lamp was still on in the tent, so Ike gently opened the flap and noticed the king staring at his battle plans intently. _That look of concentration is cute, _Ike thought, and then blushed, shaking his head, _What did I just think? Get it together._

"Who's there?" Tibarn spoke up, his golden eyes still glued to the various maps in front of him. "Speak up now."

Ike chuckled, which caused the Hawk King to look up at him. "Relax Tibarn, it's just me. You'd think I'm here to chop your head off, or try."

"Ah, Ike. Come in." The King of Phoenicis said warmly, and Ike closed the flap, sitting down on Tibarn's makeshift bed. "What brings you here?"

The general was silent for a few moments, before he took a deep breath. "Do you remember ten years ago, when you saved a beorc child from a tiger laguz in Gallia?"

Tibarn raised an eyebrow for a moment, confused by why Ike would ask him such a question. He probed his mind, seeing if he could remember anything like that from ten years ago. When he remembered, it was like someone physically slapped him in the face. "Now that you ask, yes, I do."

Ike smiled happily, confusing the Hawk King even further. Why would that make the beorc so happy? Unless... "That child you saved was me."

Gold eyes widened. The beorc child who made him reconsider his opinion on beorc, the one who said would help get rid of the "bad people"? That innocent child was Ike?

All of a sudden, he remembered a time in the sky, holding onto a small, blue haired beorc child who was both terrified and excited of being up in the air. The child spoke happily, small hands gripping onto his vest. _"Ti...Tibby! My name is Ike!"_

"Ike..." Tibarn murmured, causing the general in question to look at him with a concerned gaze. "You did what you wanted. You've helped me get rid of the "bad people" without even realizing it."

The lord blushed. "Of course you had to bring THAT up, didn't you?" His blush increased when he felt familiar strong arms wrap around him, and he leaned his head against the Hawk King's muscular chest. "Tibarn?"

The King of Phoenicis hummed in question, closing his golden eyes. It had been ten years since he had last held the beorc like this, and the familiarity of it all caused a smile to come onto his face. Despite being eighteen years old and the general of the Crimean army, he was still the small, fragile Ike he remembered.

"Don't we... have to prepare for the battle tomorrow?" Ike asked, slight annoyance in his tone. The Hawk King knew that the annoyance wasn't directed at him; no, it was directed at having to prepare for battle when all he wanted to do was stay like this forever. Tibarn wasn't a mind reader, but he had come to be more or less an expert at reading Ike's body language, and that was what it was currently screaming.

"Yes, but we can stay like this for a while, can we not?" Tibarn replied, and his answer was Ike cuddling into his chest and closing his sapphire eyes. "I see you still like doing that."

"I feel safe whenever I'm with you ... man, does that sound cheesy or what." The general mumbled to himself, and the Hawk King chuckled. Ike was too cute for his own good.

"In this situation, that is a good thing." he reassured, and he felt Ike smile against his chest. "Rest, Ike. You need your sleep, and I promise I will not leave."

Ike yawned and nodded, but not before he murmured, "I love you..."

This shocked the King of Phoenicis, but in a good way. He had secretly came to feel affection for the general since he had saved him from Leanne, and the memories of a time they had both forgotten had strengthened those feelings. Tibarn continued to scan his battle plans, one arm securely fastened around Ike. He always kept his promises, and this one was no exception.

"_I promise that we will meet again, Ike. After all, we're going to defeat the bad people together, aren't we?"_

"_Yeah! They'll never beat us!"_

Unconsciously, the Hawk King had kept the promise he made to the general ten years prior, and that was a promise that he swore he would never break.

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><p>Enough-fluff-to-choke-a-chicken anyone? Constructive criticism is always welcome!<p> 


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